Health officials fear for Zika funds as Congress nears its recess
WASHINGTON Top federal health officials fear Congress will leave town Friday without approving funds to combat Zika just as the summer mosquito season is peaking and money to fight the virus is about to run out.
Mosquito control efforts and the development of a vaccine to protect against the disease could be derailed if lawmakers do not approve funding before they adjourn for a seven- week summer recess, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell and Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned in interviews with USA TODAY on Sunday.
Lawmakers have been trying to reach a deal on funding but have stalemated over the latest proposal. Republicans and Democrats in Congress blame one another for the failure to pass legisla- tion, and prospects look bleak for them to take action this week.
Burwell said her biggest worry is the severe birth defects that Zika can cause. Those defects include microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with unusually small heads.
“Making sure we do everything we can to prevent microcephaly babies in the U. S. is why this is so important,” Burwell said.
All the Zika infections in the continental USA have been related to travel to Puerto Rico, Brazil or other Caribbean and Latin American countries, which have been hardest- hit by the mosquito- borne virus.
Health officials anticipate that there may soon be locally transmitted cases of Zika within the continental USA.
Though lawmakers from Florida and other Southern states with tropical weather are especially concerned, Fauci said Americans throughout the country are vulnerable.
“The idea that this won’t affect me because it’s not happening right now in my state — it’s just foolhardy to think that, especially with all the travel that goes on in this country,” Fauci said.
Unless more funding is approved, the second phase of vaccine development will be delayed, Fauci said. He also said states and local governments need federal help to pay for mosquito control efforts.
As of July 6, there were 1,133 Zika cases in U. S. states and Washington, D. C. and 2,534 cases in Puerto Rico and other U. S. territories, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There were 320 pregnant women with evidence of infection in the states and 279 in the territories as of June 30.
President Obama began calling on Congress to approve $ 1.9 billion to fight Zika in February.
“The idea that this won’t affect me because it’s not happening right now in my state — it’s just foolhardy to think that.” Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases